It is known in the art that a film or an electronic camera can record image information on either a film or store the information in electronic memory.
It is also known in the art that a wireless transceiver can be used to transmit and receive data. An example of such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,348. Digital cameras also have the capability of storing additional information along with the image. An example of a digital camera with such capability is the Kodak DCS 460 Digital Camera, which is capable of storing voice annotation and Global Positioning System (GPS) parameters along with the digital image. Moreover, the film used by the Advanced Photo System™, sold by Eastman Kodak Company and referred to as Advantix™ film, allows a camera to store digital information on a clear magnetic layer on the back of the photographic film. This feature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,892.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,884 discloses a camera that can receive location coordinates, such as GPS signals, from a wireless source, and then convert that information to a location name such as a name of a city. The city name is then printed on the photograph after it has been processed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,228 discloses a camera system with memory that can store a set of optional phrases such as “Happy New Year” and “Happy Birthday” which can be stored on the magnetic layer of Advantix™ film and printed on the photograph during the processing operation.
Ser. No. 08/707,265, entitled “Tradeshow Photographic and Data Transmission System”, and filed on Sep. 3, 1996, in the names of the same inventors and the same assignee as the present application, now U.S. Pat. 5,768,633, issued Jun. 16, 1998, discloses a photographic and data transmission system including two main parts. The first part is a wireless communication system installed at a booth in a tradeshow for transmitting wireless information related to a product on display, such as the product name, company name, price and the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of the product source on the internet system. The other part of the system is a camera capable of receiving the wireless transmission. When the camera is brought into the vicinity of the booth and captures an image of the product, a trigger signal from the camera initiates transmission of the wireless signal from the tradeshow booth. The camera then stores the product data with the image or stores a URL address that can direct the user to more information via the internet.
EP patent application number 640,938 describes a personalized image recording system intended to create still images or video collections for guests of amusement parks. Each guest is associated with a unique identifier in the form of a readable tag worn by the guest. When the tag is brought into the vicinity of an attraction, the tag triggers a camera located at the attraction to capture an image, e.g., of the guest. A communications network interconnects the cameras and tag readers with a central control system that creates collections of images, including the captured images and other prerecorded stock footage. The control system arranges the images, according to preferences of the guest, into collections that capture the experience of visiting the amusement park.
Digital images, captured by either a digital camera or digitized from images captured on film, can thus be used to create multimedia files. These files combine still images and other types of data such as text, graphics, audio and video. Gathering the extra digital information needed in creating a multimedia file is a time-consuming process. The Internet and World Wide Web has made that process easier, but much of the content useful for the multimedia files is copyrighted and not readily available on the Internet sites. Moreover, the user needs a multimedia computer to put the information together. The user also needs to locate the URL addresses of these information sites.
A particular problem is that the volume of information can overwhelm the casual user who is trying, e.g., to assemble a record associated with a particular event, say a visit to a theme park or a site in the National Park system. It would be desirable to find a convenient way to combine the information handling capability of modern cameras with image recording so that information relevant to a user's interests can be easily requested and accessed about a photographed item.